Freelance writers, if you specialize in health and fitness writing, here’s your shortcut for writing markets: a list of fitness and health magazines that either don’t pay their writers; buy all rights; or have some other aggravating catch. Some of the magazines listed below are online magazines.

Fitness and health magazines that do not pay freelance writers

EZine Articles

Fitness.com

New Living

Inside Look Magazine

Beautiful One

Pulse Magazine

WellnessArticles.net

Fitness and health magazines that purchase all rights

Oxygen

Her Sports

Women’s Health & Fitness

EatingWell

Network Twenty

IDEA

Fitness and health magazines that require writers to be staff

Greenwise

Walking.org

Erickson Tribune

Cancer & Women

Wish

Fitness and health magazines that require freelance writers to be certified fitness professionals through strictly the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)

American Fitness Magazine. Beware: You won’t find this out until after your article is accepted! This information is not in their writers’ guidelines!

Fitness and health magazines with miscellaneous catches

American Health & Fitness/MaximumFitness: 400 or less words

Disability Now: Must be disabled (discrimination against nondisabled people?)

Looking Fit: Misleading title; it’s about tanning

Real Beauty: They already have a large pool of freelance writers.

USA Voice: Looks good at first, but application process is multi-step and the third step is a scheduled, one-hour conference call where applicant must also be online. Apparently, the applicant must go through all that before learning what the pay is.

Better Health: Sources must be specifically from some local hospital/network.

Every Woman: Writers must be healthcare professionals.

Note: It is possible that since the time I have written this article, a few of the above magazines have changed their requirements or are now paying freelance writers. But that’s unlikely. If you’re a freelance writer specializing in these topics, save yourself some time and avoid the above magazines. On the other hand, if you don’t mind selling all rights, then check out the magazines that buy all rights. Sometimes they pay freelance writers well. The problem with selling all rights is that the freelance writer cannot resell the story over and over, which may ultimately generate far more money than selling all rights to one magazine.

Even if you’ve submitted an article all over creation and are now left with only magazines that buy all rights, think real hard about selling all rights, because you never know when a new magazine or two will pop up — one that pays freelance writers very well.